A couple of years ago I wrote a piece on stock stub nibs, which focused on inexpensive options such as the Pilot Metropolitan and the TWSBI 580, both of which offer a very affordable stub nib that gives you line variation and makes your writing look more interesting at a price point as low as $15. As I wrote in that article, the main advantage to starting out with these inexpensive specialty nibs is that they allow you to learn how a stub writes without having to (potentially) sacrifice a pen in your collection to a nibmeister. I say this because for every pen I have had custom ground that ended up amazing, an even greater number of grinds didn’t work out, mostly because I chose a poor grind for my handwriting style, but a couple flopped because I went to a pen show and had the pen worked on by someone who didn’t know what they were doing.

Here, I want to discuss a couple of excellent stock stub nibs that are available on pens at higher price points. You might ask why spend money on an expensive stock stub when you can get a pen custom ground to your own personal preferences? A few things to consider:

If you’re looking for a stub nib at a standard “broad” width, a stock nib offers this at a stock price point (though sometimes with a slight upcharge) without having to undertake the additional expense and uncertainty of going the custom grind route.

You don’t have to visit a pen show. If you’re thinking of getting a pen custom ground for the first time, I highly recommend visiting a pen show and having the nib work done in person. You can work with the nibmeister to adjust the grind to your specifications as opposed to working through the mail. The costs of return shipping can add up!

Most importantly, a stock stub nib is covered by the manufacturer’s warranty and return policy. Everyone in this hobby thinking of having their nibs custom ground should realize that it voids the warranty on the pen, so if the grind doesn’t work out, you have to replace either the nib or the pen. On the other hand, if a stock stub is bad, or the grind doesn’t work for your particular writing style, you can return it to the retailer or distributor for an exchange.

So which stock stubs am I currently enjoying? I added a couple to my collection last year:

Aurora. If you enjoy a crisper nib that offers more line variation than your typical stock nib, Aurora makes an excellent 18k stub. It’s approximately .7mm in width and has an ebonite feed, making the line width and ink flow perfect for everyday writing. It’s also surprisingly smooth, and mine has little to no tooth. A few years ago, I had picked up an Aurora Ipsilon Quadra with a stock italic nib, and I didn’t care for that nib at all because it was far too sharp and skipped and hard-started like crazy when I tried to use it as an actual writer. The stub on my 88 Minerali, however, is superb, on par with custom work. Lately, the word has gotten out about Aurora stock stubs, so they have been a bit harder to find. Currently, Pen Chalet has a stub nib option available in the all-black Aurora Unica Nera, and Dan Smith at The Nibsmith also keeps them in stock as an option for most Aurora pens.

Leonardo Officina Italiana. If you prefer a wider, smoother stub, consider the offerings from a new pen company based in Italy, Leonardo Officina Italiana. I was a fan of Delta pens before that company went out of business, and Leonardo was founded by former Delta employees. The company’s products reflect its heritage, though I’d say the Leonardo pens I own are a step above Delta in terms of fit, finish, and quality control. (It also doesn’t hurt that they have access to some discontinued Omas celluloids, due to a manufacturing partnership with Omas successor Armando Simoni Club.) Though wider than the Aurora stub (about 1.1-1.3mm), the Leonardo nib also features an ebonite feed and writes a narrower line than you would expect, making it another good option for everyday writing. I hear good things about Leonardo’s steel stub nibs as well, but haven’t personally tried them. I acquired the pen pictured here from Pen Venture as part of a three-pen set, and Emy tuned the nibs to perfection prior to shipping.

Franklin-Christoph and Pilot. Two other brands I should mention are Franklin-Christoph, which offers a wide variety of stub, cursive italic, and S.I.G. (Stub Italic Gradient) nibs in both stainless steel and gold. Those nibs are all excellent, and deserve their own article. The other brand I should mention here is Pilot, and in particular the Vanishing Point. Pilot offers a stub (“SU”) nib option for the VP that is roughly the same width as the Aurora, but I haven’t had the opportunity to write with one extensively.

I've written before on nib customization, and how much fun it can be to attend a pen show and have a nib technician (or "nibmeister") grind a nib into something more unique than your standard fine, medium, or broad. But what if you can't get to a pen show, or you don't know that you want to spend $40-70 to have the nib on one of your pens irreversibly modified? If you're interested in trying something different, I'd recommend that you start with a stock stub, available at price points as low as $15.

What is a stub nib?

A stub is an italic-style nib that will give you the line variation of a formal italic (i.e., thick downstrokes and thinner horizontal cross-strokes - see pictures below) but isn't so sharp that you can't use the nib as a daily writer. A stub nib is squared off, like an italic, but with more tipping material and rounded edges to help the nib write smoothly. While I personally can tolerate a bit more "crispness" in my italic nibs, when I first started out in the pen hobby I used a lot of stubs because they are so easy/pleasant to write with, and still break them out from time to time.

Note: Most stock steel stubs are technically better described as a hybrid between a stub and an italic - they don't have much, if any tipping material, though their edges have been smoothed significantly, to the point where I don't have a problem referring to them as "stubs."

Best Standard Stock Stub Nibs

Those interested in trying a stub-nib fountain pen have a lot of low-cost options to choose from. Here I'm going to limit myself to four recommendations, though others do exist. Some of these pens even feature interchangeable nibs and screw-in nib units, so if you end up not liking the stub nib, you can swap it out for something more to your liking.

Pilot Metropolitan. Pilot recently released its $15 Metropolitan with a 1.0mm steel stub nib. Previously, if you wanted a steel stub by Pilot, you had to purchase a Plumix calligraphy pen and swap the nib on the Plumix into the Metropolitan. While this stub probably falls more on the "italic" end of the spectrum - there's not a lot of tipping material at all and it's crisper than the TWSBI - it's still a smooth nib that's not too wet. I've been using this off and on for the past couple of weeks at work without any major issues even on the cheapest of paper. (My review of the Metropolitan)

TWSBI Eco 1.1mm Stub Nib. At the $30 price point, you can purchase the piston-filling TWSBI Eco with a stub option. TWSBI stubs are also very smooth, and I find them rather wet, depending on the ink you choose. If you'd like the ability to change nibs more easily, consider the TWSBI 580, Diamond Mini, or Vac Mini, which are more expensive but allow you to purchase aftermarket interchangeable nib units. You can change the nib on a TWSBI Eco, but the nibs aren't sold separately - you'd have to purchase a new pen and pull the nib (or trade nibs with someone else you know). (My review of the TWSBI Eco)

Conklin Stub Nibs. A couple months ago I had the opportunity to try out a Conklin Mark Twain Crescent Filler with a stub nib, and came away very impressed. Conklin pens are manufactured by Stipula in Italy, and you can find them at price points as low as $52 (or even below that with a discount code). If you like Conklin's designs, their stub is a great option. (My Review of the Conklin Mark Twain)

Lamy Italic Nibs.Finally, Lamy sells stub/italic nibs in widths ranging from 1.1mm to 1.9mm, that fit the Safari, Studio, and AL-Star line of pens. (Links are to my reviews of those pens.) These nibs are typically sold separately - Lamy nibs feature a proprietary design that allows you to easily slide them on/off the pen. I've had mixed experiences with Lamy nibs, so I'm hesitant to give them a glowing recommendation since they can be somewhat sharp writers and a bit drier than the other recommendations on here.

As I mentioned, this post is not intended to serve as a comprehensive guide to stock specialty nib options - just a starting point. Many pen companies such as Pelikan, Montblanc, Aurora, etc. offer stock stub, oblique, and italic options, albeit at a much higher price point than the pens discussed here. If you own a pen that accepts JoWo nib units (like many custom pens from Edison, Shawn Newton, etc.), you may also want to consider Franklin-Christoph specialty nib units, many of which are hand-ground by Mike Masuyama. Again, they will run you a bit more, but the quality and variety is exceptional. I may do a stand-alone post discussing these nibs in the future!

Disclaimer: The Pilot and TWSBI pens featured in this review were purchased with my own funds, for my own collection, from Anderson Pens, a sponsor of this blog. This post also contains affiliate links.

I've wanted to write a piece about custom nibs for a while. As the "pen world" explodes in popularity (well, at least relatively speaking), more and more people are discovering the world of nib customization. And at the same time, more people who have been tuning and grinding their own nibs at home have begun to transition their hobby into a small business. Only a few years ago, There were but a handful of reliable people who performed nib modifications. (Mike Masuyama, Richard Binder, and John Mottishaw, to name a few.) Today, there are even more, including Mark Bacas, Tim Girdler, Linda Kennedy, Dan Smith, and Shawn Newton. There's enough demand to support multiple people plying their trade, and I know of several individuals experimenting at home who may "go public" in the future.

What exactly is a custom nib?

The majority of fountain pen manufacturers offer nibs in four standard sizes: extra-fine, fine, medium, and broad. These "factory" nibs have round tipping material and produce a uniform line of writing that has little variation, meaning that the pen writes with a consistent line width in all directions. While it's become increasingly common for manufacturers to offer stub nibs (discussed further below) in 1.1mm and 1.5mm widths as part of their standard line, and certain manufacturers offer double or triple-broads, ultra-extra fines, obliques, crisp italics, and other specialty nibs. But even these are not truly "custom".

As I consider it, true nib "customization" involves sitting down at a table with the nib technician (or "nibmeister", as some might call them, though I prefer "nib technician" and will use that term here for simplicity's sake), having him or her watch you write, and adjusting the nib specifically to your writing style, accounting for various factors. Of course, this process often involves a nib "grind," (i.e., changing the shape of the tipping material using a grinding stone, wheel, or a rotary tool) but it can also involve smoothing the nib on sandpaper and/or mylar sheets, increasing or decreasing ink flow to the writer's preference, resetting the nib and feed, or aligning the tines. When you walk away from an appointment with a nib technician, you should have a pen that writes perfectly for you and your writing style.

That said, part of what I love about nib customization is the ability to get unique nib grinds. I'll briefly walk you through a few of my favorites:

Cursive Italic. A traditional "true italic" nib has little-to-no tipping material, is cut square across the tip, and has very sharp edges. I've found sharp italic nibs very difficult to use for daily writing (as opposed to calligraphy) because the sharp edges snag the paper, and the lack of tipping material makes the nib prone to skipping unless the nib is held at exactly the proper writing angle. A cursive italic nib captures most of the excellent line variation of an italic nib, but slightly rounded edges and a bit more tipping material makes it a better choice for daily writing. The cursive italic has become one of my favorite nibs for use at work, in part because it's not as wet as a stub and therefore works better on cheaper grades of paper. I have cursive italic nibs in various widths, ranging from .4mm (a fine) to 1.0mm (a broad).

Stub. The stub nib is the most common "gateway" nib grind that people start with, in part because the difference between a stub nib and a standard round nib can be subtle. A stub nib is squared, like an italic, but generally has much more tipping material and the edges are even more rounded off than a cursive italic. The result is a nib that's very smooth to write with, but can be wet. For this reason, I find stubs hard to use on a daily basis at work because they bleed through the paper.

It may be helpful to think of Italics, Cursive Italics, and Stubs as steps in a progression, from "sharpest" to "smoothest" nibs, or from most to least line variation. Italic nibs will have the most line variation, meaning that your horizontal cross-strokes will be much thinner than your down-strokes. Cursive Italics will create almost as much line variation in your writing, but will be much easier to write with for most people due to the edges not catching the paper. Stubs won't show as much line variation, but will also be noticeably smoother writers than both italics and cursive italics.

Architect's Point/Hebrew Italic. Some traditionalists think the Architect's nib is "trendy" or a "fad" that will go the way of the dodo soon. I hope not. It's quickly becoming one of my favorite grinds. An architect's nib is a stub or cursive italic "in reverse", meaning that it's ground to a wedge-shaped point. As a result, your handwriting will have broad cross-strokes and narrow downstrokes. The point is to mimic the script and writing style of architects and draftsmen. I like this grind because it allows me to write fairly small while still giving my writing some personality.

Needlepoint. A "needlepoint" is a nib that's been ground to a super-fine point. It's sometimes called a "Japanese extra fine" or "ultra extra fine". I don't currently have any custom-ground needlepoint nibs in my collection, though I do have a Platinum Ultra-Extra fine stock nib that's been tuned by Mike Masuyama, and it's a favorite writer for note-taking and annotation. Needlepoint nibs are becoming increasingly popular.

Gratuitous shot of me writing smaller than a penny with the Platinum Ultra-Extra Fine Nib. I've not reviewed this pen, but I've done a "first impressions" Youtube review (linked below).

Where To Start with Nib Customization

My own adventures with custom nibs started at a pen show (the 2013 Ohio Pen Show, to be exact). What I did - and what I recommend most people do - is start with a simple nib tuning. You'd be shocked at how much difference these simple adjustments can make. While most nib technicians accept work by mail, I've had the best results with in-person adjustments at pen shows. Once you know what you like, and you've worked with a nib specialist a few times, then it's very easy to send work to them via mail. If you can't get to a pen show, and have to send your pens off, nearly all nib technicians will work with you to get the pen writing exactly how you like it, though you may have to send it back and forth a time or two before it's "perfect".

In terms of custom grinds, I started with stubs and then progressed to cursive italics. As I mentioned above, the stub provides a gentle introduction to line variation, and once you get used to writing with a squared-off nib the cursive italic can really make your handwriting pop. But go slowly! Once you enter the world of custom nibs, it's tempting to get carried away and convert all of your old, "boring" nibs into stubs, needlepoints, etc., before you know what you like.

I'll close by noting one option that's become increasingly popular: Franklin-Christoph's Masuyama-ground JoWo nibs. Franklin-Christoph has partnered with Mike Masuyama to offer a line of pre-ground stubs, cursive italics, and needlepoint nibs that can be fitted to pretty much any of the pens in their lineup for a slight upcharge, which is much less than the cost of having Mike grind a custom nib for you. Granted, these nibs won't be ground or tuned specifically for you (unless you visit them at a pen show), but I've had very good results. Bonus: Franklin-Christoph uses No. 5 and No. 6 JoWo nibs, which are interchangeable with other JoWo-compatible pens like Edison and Bexley.

For further reading, you can visit the websites of any of the nib technicians linked above. Most of their web pages contain excellent descriptions of the various services and grinds they offer. I don't claim to have discussed all of the available customizations out there: there are many, and learning and trying all of them is the fun part of the journey! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The pens pictured in this article are pens from my own collection. This article may also contain certain links to affiliate sites, in which I may be compensated a small amount if you end up purchasing something.

This ink is another that I have been wanting to pick up for a long time, but just now bit the bullet and got around to doing so. Franklin-Christoph introduced their line of inks last year, and they've received rave reviews so far. I can see why: they're classy dark shades of blue, purple, green, and red, and from what I've seen so far they are incredibly low maintenance and safe. At one of the pen shows last year I took note that Mike Masuyama was using the Dark Denim to test the pens he was working on, and he was telling everyone sitting at his table that he is very careful what inks he puts in his customers' pens. Anyhow, I picked up two bottles at the Atlanta Pen Show: Olde Emerald (Green) and Syrah, Syrah (Red/Burgundy). I have not inked up a pen with the Syrah, Syrah, but here is my take on the Green, and it's a good one.

This review was written with a Stipula Etruria Alter Ego with a 1.1 mm Stub on an Exacompta Index Card. The Stub is pretty wet, and the Index Card not exactly absorbent, so the dry time on this ink is slower than it would be on typical daily use paper.

This is a fairly wet ink, but it dries quickly. The dry time reflected on my written review is somewhat misleading. I've found that this ink dries within 5-10 seconds on most papers, and it was dry at 15 seconds on this Exacompta index card. As you can see from the photos, the ink shades beautifully. The color has been described as "the color of money," which from what I've seen, is pretty accurate. I've found myself using this ink on a daily basis!

All content is the property of The Gentleman Stationer and Digital Divide Media, LLC and should not be reproduced without permission. All rights reserved.

The Gentleman Stationer contains paid advertising, affiliate links, and paid/sponsored content (which will be plainly disclosed by a Disclaimer when featured).

The Gentleman Stationer is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program and its international equivalents, an affiliate advertising program designed to allow participating sites to earn from qualifying purchases made by visitors. All Amazon and Amazon logos are the trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. and its affiliates.

The Gentleman Stationer also participates in the Pen Chalet, Etsy, Shareasale, eBay Partner Network, CJ Affiliate, Rakuten, and Huckberry Affiliate Programs. When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission.